Diet Soda

ARTICLES ABOUT DIET SODA BY DATE - PAGE 3

Q. What is the truth on aspartame? There has been negative press about aspartame for quite a few years now. Frankly, I don't know what to believe. A. Aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal) is a popular artificial sweetener and an ingredient often found in diet sodas and other food products. The Food and Drug Administration approved its use in the United States in 1981. Since its approval, there have been claims that aspartame can cause a variety of illnesses and diseases, including brain tumors, breast cancer, leukemia, lymphoma and lupus.

Confident you're cutting calories when you down that diet pop with a slice of lime? Brace yourself: A new study associates drinking more of any soda -- diet or regular -- with a larger waistline and a higher risk of heart disease. It's no surprise that sugary regular soda has been linked to obesity and other increased risk factors for heart disease. But for the first time, beverages formulated with artificial sweeteners have been linked to those health issues, according to the Framingham Heart Study, which examined soft drink usage among approximately 9,000 middle-aged men and women.

Dear Miss Manners: Do you think it is appropriate for an ex-wife to show up at a family gathering when the present wife is in attendance? For example, Thanksgiving, funerals, Christmas and family gatherings, and it is not that she corresponds with the family during the year. I think her children should be there but not her. Ex means no more. Do you think the present wife should go there knowing that the first wife will be present? It is a very uncomfortable situation. Gentle Reader: Yes, it must be terribly uncomfortable for the relatives, who are only hoping to have a pleasant holiday or dignified ceremony without enduring the fallout of a past divorce.

Q. Is there any connection between esophageal cancer and diet soda? A. The quick answer is no: There is no direct connection between esophageal cancer and diet or regular soda. But the quick answer doesn't tell the whole story. There are interconnections between soda, obesity, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and esophageal cancer that may indicate that it is best to go easy on soda. The incidence of esophageal cancer continues to increase, and so far, researchers can't pinpoint a single reason.

Here is the Woman's Code. The rules that women live by but rarely divulge to men. . . . - Invite a man to go shopping with you only if you need someone to carry your packages or drive. - Assure your boyfriend that every female movie star has had a boob job. - When your man asks you what's wrong, say "Nothing." However, when Oprah, Dr. Phil or Dr. Laura asks you, go into excruciating detail. Leave nothing out. - The negative effects of cheese puffs and chocolate-chocolate chip ice cream are offset by the positive effects of diet soda.

When consumers tasted Diet Rite cola in 1958, and many puckered up at the bitter aftertaste, it began a half-century quest--still ongoing--to produce a diet soda that didn't taste like one. America since has landed a man on the moon, corralled the laser for medical use and developed the World Wide Web. But formulating the perfect diet soda is still a work in progress, the latest effort being the Coca-Cola Co.'s launch of Coca-Cola Zero. Diet brands are the fastest-growing segment of the soda market.

Ellery Pierce is a scientist working for a company that manufactures "animatronic creatures for movie studios and theme parks." He has had no success in marriages and relationships, yet longs for love, so he decides to make a woman to his own specifications. This is the premise of "Adventures of the Artificial Woman" (Simon & Schuster, 208 pages, $22), the latest novel by author Thomas Berger (best known for "Little Big Man" and the Pulitzer-nominated "The Feud"). It is not a new fictional scenario, and the story follows a familiar trajectory, in that the, um, "hero" ends up getting a lot more than he bargained for when he brings his lovely creation, Phyllis, to "life."

Here are some easy ways to to let go of 100 calories a day, courtesy of the Clemson University Extension Service: - Swap an 8-ounce regular soft drink for a diet soda. - Use a teaspoon of mustard or ketchup or one tablespoon of fat-free mayo instead of one tablespoon of regular mayo. - Split a small order of fries with a friend. - Pedal an exercise bike for 13 minutes each day. - Walk briskly for 22 minutes each day. - Clean the house at a fast pace for 25 minutes.

Twenty years ago this month, a match was made in sugar-free heaven when aspartame was first used in Diet Coke. Diet Pepsi and other sodas soon followed, embracing NutraSweet (aspartame) as their artificial sweetener of choice. And so a generation of soda-guzzling kids was forever changed, converted with the masses into a nation hooked on caramel-colored, bubbly, fake-sugar water--and causing some nutritionists to question whether drinking so much aspartame is safe over the long term.

Dr. Matthew Messina, a spokesman for the American Dental Association, said that just because there's no sugar in diet soda, that doesn't mean it doesn't affect your teeth. When sugar is left on the teeth, bacteria eat the sugar, and that causes acid to form, which dissolves the enamel and causes cavities. With the acidic nature of diet soda, you're throwing a bunch more acid in there, Messina said, and that can lead to cavities, among other things. "It can contribute to the breakdown of tooth enamel," he said.